Happy Thanksgiving!
I urge you to please notice when you are happy,
and exclaim or murmur or think at some point,
‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.'
I hope I quoted Mr. Vonnegut correctly.
In any event, it was a happy Thanksgiving. I spent the day with family back in Fargo, and everyone was in good spirits eating great food. Nice indeed.
Today’s workout was four 400-m repeats with about a three-minute jog between. On a tip from my dad, my fiancée and I decided to check out the ice rink next to the gymnastics center, since it has a 200-m track around the perimeter; no dice, closed for the holiday. This was probably appreciated by the staff, and plus, I got to reminisce about my cartwheeling days.
So, off to the park. Trails were well-groomed, but I got to play hero and catch my beloved a couple of times, since there were patches of ice. Hack for winter training: microspikes, or screws in the shoes for MacGyver types. It was a pretty day…very blue sky, and mostly undisturbed snow a few inches deep. The river had ice only very near to the shore. Saw some squirrels and a vulture (no turkeys…they know what today is about). I wonder if they think winter really, really sucks.
After the final 400, I triumphantly cut through the snow to rejoin my lady dearest. As I was running over, I imagined myself cutting a somewhat rugged figure, as a literal trailblazer, after all. The damsel deemed that no photographic record was warranted. I’ll have to resort to other charms, it seems.
- Mileage Today: 2.3 (4x400 at 1:34, 1:34, 1:30, 1:31)
- Mileage This Week: 16.0
- Mileage on Lake Patrol: 16.0
- Mileage To Date: A lot.
About Me
Hey everyone! I’m John Christensen, the top-ranked non-finisher at the 2025 Never Summer 60k. I’ll be running the 2026 Grandma’s Marathon in support of the American Cancer Society, a nationwide non-profit in operation since 1913 dedicated to eliminating cancer.
The “Lake Patrol” blog will catalog my training and some of my pontifications and bloviations. I intend to use this as a form of self-coaching, as well as a record of my state of mind that I might appreciate re-reading one day.
If you enjoy the blog, consider making a donation to the ACS on my personal page, directly to the ACS, or to a charity of your choice.